Over $1 million worth of fentanyl seized in Wakefield drug mill bust
The operation unfolded Tuesday night inside a sixth-floor apartment at 3940 Bronx Blvd., where officials say officers recovered single-dose envelopes stamped with the brand name "Game of Death." Six Bronx men and one woman were taken into custody.
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Officers from the DEA New York Drug Task Force Division seized over $1 million worth of fentanyl during a drug mill bust in Wakefield, according to the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York.
The operation unfolded Tuesday night inside a sixth-floor apartment at 3940 Bronx Blvd., where officials say officers recovered single-dose envelopes stamped with the brand name "Game of Death." Six Bronx men and one woman were taken into custody.
According to the DEA-NYTFD, its agents saw two suspects, Exander Rodriguez-Santos and Juan Burgos, leave the building during a surveillance operation, which was part of an ongoing investigation. They saw the pair get into a Honda CR-V and noticed the suspected mill operator, Burgos, allegedly carrying a brown paper bag.
Officials say DEA agents approached the Honda and seized the bag, which contained what looked like narcotics, inside a clear plastic bag. Burgos, 37 and Rodriguez-Santos, 29, were taken into custody. Agents then allegedly recovered a key to Apt 6I from Rodriguez-Santos.
Agents entered the apartment and discovered an active fentanyl packaging mill with five additional alleged mill workers inside. Tens of thousands of baggies containing a white powdery substance were recovered, according to officials.
Investigators say they also found various fentanyl packaging equipment spread across four glass tables, packages of Narcan taped to the wall, a safe in the bedroom, containing additional baggies of suspected fentanyl, a paper shredder and more.
The five others taken into custody were identified by officials as Luis Urena-Rodriguez, 41, Nelson Hiciano, 35, Cesar Castellano, 41, Jenny Antonio, 46 and Juan Almanzar, 27.
“It is alarming that these defendants were allegedly operating a fentanyl packaging mill using labels that read ‘Game of Death’ across the street from a park where children are known to play, " said Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark. "I would like to commend the federal, state and local law enforcement officers whose work to dismantle this operation has undoubtedly made the Bronx safer as a result."
Officials say the narcotics seized from the apartment tested positive for fentanyl in field tests. They say the results of DEA laboratory analysis are pending.
All alleged mill operators were arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday. Prosecutors say they each face first, second and third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and second-degree criminal use of drug paraphernalia. Bail amounts ranged from $100,000 to $250,000 cash or $100,000 to $400,000 bond for each defendant.
